Forlorn souls
by mtm
Summary: A desperate, misguided soul was all it took.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I feel like my mind has been blanketed by snow, smothering all thought processes, hence quietness on the writing front. Also it doesn't help too much that it's -20 °C… However listening to Peter Bradley Adams' "Song for Viola" brought this forth. Please listen to that amazing song and enjoy the story!

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**Forlorn souls**

He stood in the middle of the silence of a land heavily blanketed by snow, with the crystals sparkling in the mid winter sun. The fall of glittering dust from the blue sky showered him, dancing gently around him in a never ending cycle from sky to earth and back. A vast swathe of land opened in front of him, a thick forest of frosted trees was behind him. And silence reigned it all.

He stood still, letting the sun caress his face with its cold fingers, letting the glitter of fine snow crystals land on him, covering him, joining him with the winter, becoming a part of the snowy landscape.

He didn't notice the cold as his core was already ice, his tears frozen on his cheeks and clinging to his eye lashes, the frost woven into his blonde hair, the low temperature nipping at his skin, leaving white patches behind.

He didn't notice the passing of time, the sun in the sky giving its final kiss on his cheek before mournfully dipping under the horizon. Neither did he notice the moon's gentle stirring, the silver light enveloping everything and all, also taking him into its cold embrace.

Time went on and still he stood. The darkening sky gathered clouds, heavy with their burden and soon it was snowing in silence.

His still form collapsed and did not rise. He lay down, cheek against the coldness of the snow, eyes closed. The snow fell gently and silently on the man who had finally given up, comforting him in the only way a winter could, by offering the numbness of falling temperatures to ease the pain, offering the silence of falling snow to sooth the mind and the beauty of glittering snow in the moonlight to wipe away horrid images of the past.

His sluggish thoughts tried to surface for one more time before yielding to the tug of promise of warmth and deep sleep.

"Lisbon…"

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

_One week earlier  
_

"Jane! Are you coming or not?", came Lisbon's irate voice from the lifts bringing a smile to Jane's face. He jumped up grabbing his coat and practically danced to where Lisbon was standing her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Jane enjoyed teasing her, to bring that hint of blush to her cheeks and fire into her eyes. It also brought a fire into his belly, although he squashed that train of thought immediately upon entry to his conscious thought.

He smiled at her, his amusement and fondness clearly showing in his eyes and Lisbon couldn't resist it for long and had to turn towards the lifts to hide her smile, while trying to stay stern.

"One day I'm just going to leave you behind", she threatened looking at Jane from under her hair, while the lift doors closed. He smirked at her and self assuredly said, "No, you won't".

"Where are we going?", Jane asked next and Lisbon had to smile at his childlike curiosity and restlessness. They didn't have a case at the moment, so it wasn't a surprise that Jane for once didn't have any idea where they were going. Lisbon congratulated herself for succeeding to confuse Jane, at least for a moment. She smiled at him and didn't say a word.

On cue Jane started whining and followed her like an over eager puppy and Lisbon couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into a laugh.

Jane was confused as to why Lisbon was laughing, but he didn't mind whatever it was as it wasn't often that she laughed so freely and unguarded. They walked for a while in a comfortable silence, until they reached a busy shopping street and Lisbon steered them towards a coffee stand next to a park. Once they had bought their coffee and tea, they took a seat on a bench in the park.

"Care to share with the class?", Jane finally asked still smiling, while taking in the sight of a happy and relaxed Lisbon. She looked like somebody had lifted a heavy weight from her shoulders, like she had been given a second chance in life, therefore making Jane very curious to what had happened to make Lisbon behave so out of character.

"I did some serious thinking over the Christmas and New Year", Lisbon started, getting a nod from Jane as he had noticed that she had appeared absent minded during the quiet days in the office between Christmas and New Year.

"I came to realisation that I have been hiding a lot from myself and that there is something I have to admit to myself as it's starting to interfere with my capability to concentrate at work", Lisbon continued making Jane frown as he didn't have a clue where she was going with this.

"So I made a New Year's promise", Lisbon concluded and looked at Jane, smiling at the confused look on his face. She was feeling very nervous, but she had made a promise to herself and she was going to see it through.

She took a deep breath and continued, "There is someone, that I care deeply about and although I have tried to ignore the feeling, I can't anymore and even though I'm fairly certain that he won't feel the same way, I have to let him know. For my sake and for his sake".

Jane tried to keep the shock from showing. He had had no idea that Lisbon was romantically involved or even interested in someone and he had to admit that the thought surprisingly made him feel jealous and hurt. He mentally slapped himself to concentrate on listening to Lisbon, who now looked at him expectantly.

"I'm happy for you Lisbon. Who's the lucky guy?", Jane managed to get out without sounding too strangled, although something must have been evident in his voice as Lisbon looked at him funnily.

"You can be such an idiot sometimes", Lisbon said to him sighing.

"It's you", she said quietly.

Jane's eyes widened and Lisbon could clearly see the swirl of myriad emotions behind his blue eyes; fear, panic, fondness, tenderness, all stumbling over each others. She waited patiently, with her heart in her throat. She knew that it was very unlikely that Jane would return her feelings, but she had to make him aware that he wasn't alone, that there was someone that cared about him. And she trusted that their friendship was now solid and deep enough to survive such an announcement. She knew that for her, it had been a right thing to do, because as soon as she had made up her mind, she felt content and happy.

Jane had regained his composure quickly and he leaned forwards and said quietly, "You know that I'm not worth it". His face was open and devoid of any masks, his eyes honest.

"To me you are", Lisbon answered quickly.

"You don't have to say anything. I wanted to make it clear how I feel, but I'm not expecting anything in return. I'm your friend, but I wanted to make it clear that if you need anything, you can come to me. That there is someone who is always thinking about you, worried about you and willing to help", Lisbon continued.

Jane was still leaning close to her on the bench, one arm on the back of the bench. He lifted his right hand to push a strand of Lisbon's hair behind her ear, following his hand with his eyes. He brought his eyes back, to look at Lisbon and whispered in a choking voice, "Thank you".

Jane definitely hadn't expected to hear anything like this from Lisbon, but it warmed his heart to know that this brave woman cared deeply about him. He wasn't sure that he would ever be able to give what she deserved, but the least he could do was to trust her and be honest with her.

While they both were still coming to terms with Lisbon's announcement, they failed to see a black van coming to a halt behind them. Neither did they see the two men who jumped out of the van wearing ski masks and who were headed towards them, guns drawn.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews!

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Jane regretted that he couldn't show Lisbon how much her confession meant to him. He didn't want to let her close to him until Red John was caught, as she was too much of a target as it was already. Neither could he tell her about his feelings, held down by an iron grip, as it would only hurt her too much in the end if she thought that he had changed and forgotten Red John.

Jane had to admit that Lisbon had changed him already, the whole team had, but he still wasn't willing to let go of his vengeance. He wanted to protect them, which was new to him, but he couldn't allow himself to speculate about a future as to him, the future after Red John didn't exist.

He occasionally found his control slipping as when he had pulled her to him when he had hypnotised her or when pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, like just now. These moments of intimacy were his lifeline, moments to spur him on, to give him strength, although he had felt guilty of using her without her consent. To know now that Lisbon would welcome him, that she would give whatever he wanted or needed without asking anything in return, made him feel humble and grateful, however it also reminded him to enforce his control that he wouldn't take too much, wouldn't assume too much as above all he wanted to make sure that he didn't hurt Lisbon.

Somewhere in his mind a small hope stirred, a thought not yet fully formed tickled the edges of his conscious mind that maybe someone would wait for him.

XXX

Lisbon felt light and oddly relieved that she had finally opened up to Jane as well as admitting to herself how she felt. She was happy that Jane had been honest with her and almost giddy about what she had seen in his eyes. She had always known that he liked her, but to see the fondness, the gentleness and the caring in his eyes had been more than enough to convince her that she had made the right decision in offering everything to him, while expecting nothing in return.

Lisbon turned towards Jane to suggest that they should get back to the office, when she saw a man dressed in black stabbing something in Jane's neck. Everything slowed down.

Jane slapped his hand on his neck a look of surprise on his face, to only blink his eyes sleepily and slowly falling into an unconscious heap.

Lisbon pulled her gun while shouting at the two black clad men to freeze and to step away from the still form of Jane. She saw one of the men pulling the trigger and she also fired her gun, but she could feel by the piercing pain in her stomach that she had been hit. The stickiness that greeted her hand when she pressed it against the pain was a confirmation of the deliberately aimed shot as it would incapacitate her quickly. She still tried to lift her gun and aim for the men again, only to be shot in the shoulder, dropping her gun and falling to the ground.

Lying there on her back she could faintly hear the panic of the people on the busy park and the shopping street and the wailing of sirens in the distance. She managed to turn her head a little towards the black van to see the men shoving Jane into the back. She tried to keep her eyes focused on the licence plate, but it was getting difficult as everything was getting blurry.

She felt a pair of hands pressing hard into her abdomen and the flaring pain took the last remnants of her consciousness away.

XXX

In the CBI bullpen it was quiet. Van Pelt was tapping away on her computer, Rigsby was munching his snack and Cho was reading as usual. They had seen Lisbon and Jane take off and although the others were confused as to what was going on, but decided not to mention anything, Cho could guess what was going to take place. He strongly wished that they would have a happy ending as Lisbon and Jane deserved some peace and happiness.

A phone rang and Cho reached to answer it under the eyes of the other agents.

"We will be right there", was the only thing Cho said, his impassive face revealing nothing.

"Do we have a new case?", Rigsby asked his mouth full earning a glare from Van Pelt and he quickly tried to swallow the rest of the sandwich.

"Boss has been shot and Jane kidnapped. They are taking her to the UC Davies, the responding officers are meeting us there", Cho responded to the shock of Rigsby and Van Pelt. They hastily grabbed their coats and went to find their cars.

XXX

When they got to the hospital, they went straight to ER to find any news about Lisbon. The nurse could only tell them that she had been taken to surgery and that they could wait in the waiting room. When the team turned around, they were approached by two police officers.

"You are from CBI, right?", one of them asked, Officer Dent by the name badge.

"Yes, what do you have?", Cho responded and the grave face devoid of emotions made the officers feel bad for the guy who had done this to the CBI team.

"We happened to be patrolling close by when we heard the shots. We ran to the scene to find agent Lisbon on the ground, bleeding and unconscious. My partner stayed with her trying to stop the bleeding, and I tried to stop the black van, before they took off, but I don't think I managed to put too many bullets into the van", officer Dent reported.

"By that time other units had responded and were taking statements so we decided to escort agent Lisbon to the hospital. Then we called you", he continued explaining what was their take on what had taken place. They promised to let the team have all the evidence and statements as soon as possible. Cho nodded and thanked the officers.

"We hope that agent Lisbon will pull through", the officers said before leaving. The team were left alone in the ER. Cho walked away from the chaos towards a quieter corner and placed a call to the CBI, to their temporary boss and updated him what had happened.

Cho snapped the phone shut and gave the instructions to Rigsby and Van Pelt to go to the crime scene, cringing when saying that as it was their own people involved now, and to start on the evidence the local PD had gathered. He would stay to speak with the doctor and get an update on Lisbon's condition.

After Rigsby and Van Pelt had left, Cho found the waiting room. There were other people silently sitting and waiting so he took a seat away from them getting ready to wait. He shook his head when he thought about his earlier wish for a happy ending for Jane and Lisbon. He knew it was irrational, but he felt it was his fault, that maybe he had jinxed it. He leaned back in his chair, alone with his dark thoughts as hours went by.

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

Jane woke to a feeling of fluffiness. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton wool, everything felt and sounded muffled and even the bed where he lay, felt fluffy. This made him to open his eyes and sit up. A bed! Where the hell was he and where was Lisbon? The last thing he could remember was sitting on the park bench with her and something stinging in his neck. He vaguely remembered gun shots and Lisbon shouting, but nothing definite.

He looked around and found himself in a bedroom in an old house with large windows on one side. A fireplace was set on one wall and it had a fire going, which warmed him nicely. He got up to look out of the window and noticed two things. One, he wasn't injured except for the fuzzy feeling and two, he was still wearing the same clothes including his shoes.

Jane walked to the window and was shocked to find himself looking at trees and a vast garden covered in snow. Now he was even more confused, how long had he been out? A door clicked open behind him and he whirled around to see a maid in a crisp uniform come in carrying a tray, followed by two men with guns drawn.

"Good morning gentlemen. The guns are a bit over the top, aren't they?", Jane smiled charmingly at them. The men didn't react, but the maid was clearly taken aback by his cheerfulness.

"Your breakfast, sir", she said quietly after putting down the tray and left with the two men in tow. Jane walked over and peeked at the tray. The food seemed perfectly fine and he was ravenous. Whoever was behind this stunt would surely not try to kill him by poisoning after all the trouble they had gone through to bring him here. Where ever here was. Jane sat down and attacked the food.

XXX

After the breakfast Jane had searched the room from top to bottom, but found only that the door and the windows were locked and that he was held on the second floor. And during the hour he had been sitting at the window, he had seen, neither heard anyone.

The door suddenly opened again to reveal the two gun men who gruffly told Jane to follow them. They walked through the old house along narrow corridors Jane nattering cheerfully away and he was pleased to notice that this annoyed the guards to no end, although they didn't react. He was shown into a large room with a fireplace roaring on one wall and a figure sitting in a large armchair next to the fire.

"Come closer, my dear", came a fragile voice from the chair and as the guards motioned him forwards, Jane walked to the chair to find an old lady sitting in it, looking regal in spite of the fragile voice. Jane thought that she was Italian based on her facial features and colouring and on the slight hint of an accent in her English.

"I'm sorry I had to take such drastic measures, but I had to bring you directly here as soon as possible", she said gesturing to Jane to take a seat to which he complied.

"Not that I don't like the idea of a country retreat and a little holiday, but why am I here?", Jane asked still smiling charmingly.

"You are psychic and I need you gift", the woman answered as it was obvious to everyone.

"Ma'am, I'm not psychic", Jane gently told her, not prepared for the angry outburst that followed.

"I have seen you in TV and kept an eye on your career with the police. You are a psychic if I tell you so! I was warned about your arrogance and your tricks and that's why I arranged for you to be brought here without being aware where you are. You are not going to leave. Ever", the old woman carried on ranting about his responsibilities to use his gifts and how she had made sure that nobody would come after him. Jane could only look at her dumbfounded without getting a word in.

"Just so that we are clear. Your duty is to read the mind of my husband who suffered a stroke and can't speak. You are to report only to me. I need all the information to arrange the Family business as there are things that only he knows and the stroke took us by surprise".

"You will not go anywhere unescorted and will be kept locked into your room. The meals will be brought to you. If you try to escape, you will be punished", the old lady continued.

"Do not think that someone will come to rescue you. We have used all the facilities of the Family to make sure that your trail is well hidden and that woman of yours will not come as she is dead", she concluded.

Jane was filled by cold dread. Lisbon couldn't be dead, could she? He could remember the shots, but she had been still shouting. While he was sitting shock still, the woman gestured to the guard who turned on the TV on one of the walls.

"See for yourself", she said and Jane was faced with a newsreader outside a hospital reporting of a mob style hit, which had left a federal agent dead and another one missing. All of the sudden Jane could see Cho at the background and although he looked stoic, Jane could see the tell tale signs that the man was distressed. Jane's face went pale and he turned around, now angry, all traces of cheerfulness gone.

"How do you expect me to do anything after killing her? You are insane!", Jane shouted losing all control that he had held onto, standing up glaring at the old woman, which caused the guards to come closer and aim their guns at him. The old lady gestured to them to stay back.

"If you don't do as we ask, first the rest of your team will be killed one by one until you are the only one left. You will be then killed slowly. After we are done, even that fool, Red John, won't be able to find your remains", the old lady coolly explained. Jane felt physically sick, he was sweating and the only thing filling his mind was grief and guilt for Lisbon's death. A mantra of "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry", was running in a loop in his ears and he was barely aware that he was being led away. A maid opened the door to him and the guards escorting him out, but Jane failed to see the veiled sympathy on her face.

Once Jane was locked in again, he stood in the middle of the room, still in shock. He couldn't believe that Lisbon was gone. There must have been some mistake or they had staged the death. He couldn't give in to the doubt that maybe the news had been real. But the face of Cho haunted him.

He couldn't admit it to himself that the person that he finally had come to care about a great deal, who he had tried to protect from Red John by keeping her at arms length, was now dead because of him and because some delusional old woman though that he could read minds. Once again his past as a fake psychic had come to haunt him.

Jane took the seat again in the chair beside the window, staring out to the winter wonderland and felt his soul fleeing a tear by tear as his cheeks grew wet as he wept.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Not much dialogue here, but I hope you like it nonetheless. It's also a bit dark.

And thank you all the wonderful people who have taken the time to review. It feeds the author:)

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Cho sat in the quiet room. He was in that surreal world between wakefulness and dreaming, that could only be induced by a long term stress and insomnia. He listened, but didn't hear anything else than the clock ticking on the wall. It was dark, only moonlight peaking through the curtains creating a play of shadows and light on the floor.

The figure on the bed in the middle of the room was still, shrouded in darkness, hidden away from prying eyes. Cho was overwhelmed by protectiveness and although he knew the agents that were in the protective duty, he demanded to take part himself. To see that Lisbon was kept safe and to punish himself, for every time Lisbon asked for any news of Jane and he couldn't give any, the disappointment and panic grazing her eyes burned him. He welcomed the pain as he needed it to keep going, to keep looking for the people responsible.

Today was the fourth day. Lisbon had pulled through, although it had been touch and go for a while. It was decided to keep her recovery a secret as the motive behind the attack was unknown and they couldn't be sure that her life wouldn't be threatened again. He had even made an appearance at the press conference to give credit to the reporters claims and his performance was nothing but the naked truth as that had been the night when Lisbon had been fighting for her life.

No motive could be find why someone wanted Lisbon dead and Jane alive. It had been a carefully planned operation as there had been plenty of occasions when either Jane or Lisbon had been out and about alone or together with the team, but it was rare that the two of them would be out by themselves if not on a crime scene. They had been clearly targeted together, but why?

They had found evidence of the black van around the CBI building and even around Lisbon's and Jane's houses for several weeks before the actual incident, so obviously someone had put the time and effort into the plan, taking the opportunity to execute it as soon as possible.

Van Pelt had been able to track the van to a small, private airport, but then the trail had gone cold. At that point the FBI became involved as it was clear that Jane had been taken out of state. The investigation was being taken seriously as a federal agent had been attacked and a consultant kidnapped, but the progress had been painstakingly slow. Every time they made progress, someone threw up a smoke screen and they were blind for that crucial moment and the trail was lost.

All the evidence pointed towards a large and powerful organisation, tendrils infiltrating all aspects of life. How an organisation could be so slippery and invisible and why no one had paid any attention to it before, were the burning questions in the mind of FBI. They didn't like to be taken for fools.

The CBI team had been given free access to the investigation, which had made everybody's life so much easier. Even Lisbon was taking part from her hospital bed, threatening to walk out every few hours only to be reminded that her evident resurrection would possibly put Jane into a danger. It pained Cho to see how deflated Lisbon became, how the spark of hope left her eyes as she leaned back to her pillows.

Cho made sure that he always had a night shift and sometimes he just sat in her room even if it wasn't his turn to be there. Lisbon was aware of his silent vigil, but she never commented on it. Neither did he comment when he heard her crying at nights. They both occupied the same dark room and the same dark thoughts, but were still unable to cross the chasm of guilt and loneliness.

Cho silently continued to observe the passing of time as the dark and light pattern became more intertwined on the floor.

XXX

Jane sat next to the window all night, watching the moon travel across the sky. He was consumed by guilt and grief, which were slowly leading towards shut down. He was cold, but he didn't move. When the maid came to add more wood to the fireplace, he didn't stir. When she brought food, he was utterly still.

When his wife and daughter were killed, he suffered a nervous breakdown. He was utterly shell shocked and ravished by grief and guilt. He blamed himself for all that had taken place and he had become self destructive until he had learned to direct all that guilt and anger towards Red John. But it hadn't changed the fact that it was still his fault what had happened, however much he wanted to put the blame on Red John.

He was immersed in those same emotions once again and this time there was nobody else to blame but him. How due to him another amazing woman had lost her life. Again. And he hadn't even told her how much she meant to him. His last words to her had been "Thank you" instead of "I love you", which pained him above all. How selfish he had been in thinking that by not telling her, she would be safe.

It felt like his frozen soul was being twisted into a tighter coil, tighter and tighter until he would snap and he didn't have any inclination of trying to stop it. He wouldn't even have been able to as he had sunken beyond the tipping point where there was no return. Pour enough trauma on one person, whose mental health is fragile to start with and the shattering happens fast.

He sat and watched the moon until it became clouded and it started snowing. Sharp, piercing, beautiful snowflakes, falling to the ground. How fitting it was that the sky was weeping frozen tears with him.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

The sun rose to find Jane still in the same chair. He had spent all night in a frozen, numb stupor, his mind finally having quieted down in the small hours of the night. He had tried to remember every minute detail about Lisbon, how she smiled, how she smelled, how her hair felt... He tried to imprint it all into his memory as he needed all the comfort it would bring while he was clinging to life.

He heard the door opening and small steps coming hesitantly towards him. The same maid from before carrying a tray came to his side.

"Please, sir. Eat something", the maid asked quietly. Jane didn't know why she would care, but he didn't have the energy to be mean so he smiled at her sadly while shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter any more, but thank you for offering", Jane answered to the bafflement of the maid. She lowered her gaze to his hands resting in his lap and came closer to put down the tray on the window sill. Now she was close enough to keep what she said from the guard who had followed into the room.

"I heard what the Lady had done to your wife. I'm so sorry", she whispered and turned away.

A fresh pain shot through Jane's heart. The maid had meant well and had mistaken his wedding band to mean that his wife had been killed. He lowered his head closing his eyes to hide his distress while the maid got the fire going on again with the guard standing at the door. How could she have known that the woman killed had never worn a matching band? Jane kept twisting the band on his finger over and over and over..

When she was done, the maid took a last look at the man, who was clearly heartbroken. She felt her gut twisting in empathy. She had been able to turn a blind eye to what her employers were dealing with as they had never brought any of it home, but to see herself in what kind of world they lived in and what they were willing to do to other people, ever so easily destroying others, she felt ashamed. She couldn't leave the place as she was paying her parents debt, but she felt so sorry for this man, how his life had been destroyed just because another man had had a stroke.

She was swallowing her tears when leaving the room. The guard noticed and gruffly said, "Don't worry your pretty head, he won't be around for much longer to bother you". She looked at him in horror while he locked the room.

XXX

The guard came to fetch him some time later. He was taken along old corridors through high, wooden doors to a bedroom, where an old man was sleeping on a bed, almost hidden away by all the covers, propped up with pillows. The old lady was standing next to him, looking frustrated and annoyed.

"The old fool didn't trust records and had to keep everything hidden in his own head. Then he had to go and have a stroke, which left him unable to communicate", she huffed and turned to Jane. She pointed at the old man and told Jane, "You will stay here and wait until he wakes up. The guards will notify me immediately and I will come to question him. You will tell me his answers".

Jane didn't make any sign that he had understood or accepted the task to the displeasure of the old woman. He did take a seat next to the man though, which seemed to calm the woman down a bit and she left leaving one guard to stand next to the door. Apparently they didn't trust him not to harm the man.

Jane looked at the sleeping man. How he wished he could sleep like that to shut away the world, but the world had a different idea and made him insomniac to make him relive all the horrors over and over again, never getting a moments rest.

The man didn't stir all day and Jane was taken back to his room for meals, although he didn't touch them. The old lady came to see them few times during the day and seemed to get increasingly agitated that neither of the men was co-operating with her demands. Finally at the dusk, Jane was escorted back to his room, where the maid was waiting again with the food. Jane tiredly smiled at her and waved the food away, taking a seat at his customary position at the window.

During the night he was summoned and the guard seemed to be particularly annoyed that Jane wasn't deep asleep in his bed. The old man was awake, but barely so. He didn't seemed to be aware that there was anyone in the room with him, he didn't focus on any one person and despite all the demands and shouts from the old woman, Jane could easily say that the man was so confused and disorientated that he couldn't read his mind. This left the woman seething and ordering him out of her sight. He hadn't planned on lying and prolonging his captivity, but he needed to protect his team. Lisbon's team.

Over the next few days, Jane stayed the days at the man's bed side and was also occasionally summoned during the night, but the old man was never lucid enough for "mind reading". This didn't please the old woman, but her threats didn't touch Jane any more, even when she threatened to get him killed if he didn't fulfil his duty. He didn't care what happened to him, even less than before, although somewhere in the back of his mind there was still a quiet voice that urged him to escape.

XXX

The maid was getting increasingly agitated and conflicted. She wanted to help the captive, but didn't know how. All her efforts here in the house were for nothing as the man wanted nothing, asked for nothing. She could only keep his room warm and to observe how he neglected himself. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep and he was still wearing the same clothes he was wearing when brought to the house.

The time came for the weekly grocery shopping and one of the guards drove her to the town as usual and then left her to it, while he went to a bar. She went through the shop on autopilot, picking items when she saw a police officer in a uniform with a young boy running around in the shop. She had an idea and quickly scribbled on the other side of her shopping list and waited until the boy was running towards her. She smiled at the boy and he stopped and smiled back shyly.

"Could you do me a favour?", she asked him seriously. The boy nodded hesitantly.

"I need a postman to deliver this letter to that police man over there", she said pointing at the boy's dad. He became excited and proudly told the maid that it was his dad. He promised to deliver the letter right there and then, but when the maid pointed out that letters were delivered to peoples home and she asked if he could wait patiently and give it to his dad when they were at home, like a real postman would do, the boy seriously promised to wait.

The maid handed the folded shopping list to him and watch him run away to his dad. She hastily gathered her missing items and went to pay for them. The guard was already waiting for her at the checkouts.

"Who was the kid?", he asked her suspiciously.

"Just some kid who liked running around. I love kids, don't you?", the maid gushed and the guard dropped the matter, annoyed at her. When they were driving away she saw the father and son leave the store, the note peeking out of the boy's pocket.

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thank you MentalistLover, Snow'sLuckyCat, Habeous Corpus, YukinaKid and Sophie Fatale for reviewing the last few chapters. It means a lot to read those reviews, to know that people are reading and enjoying the story, that it's deemed good enough to comment on. Thank you!

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Jane wasn't sure how many days he had been kept captive in the house. He was starting to feel the effects of not sleeping and not eating, but he didn't seem to retain the capability to care any more. He did his best in trying to fool the old lady of the house, and her husband seemed to agree with Jane as he hadn't regained consciousness at all for the past two days, but that was his way of trying to ensure the safety of his team.

One thought had joined the merry go around in his head, a thought that begged him to escape as then they wouldn't need to hurt the team. They would only punish him if they caught him, but they would leave the team alone as the leverage would be gone. There was nothing he could do for Lisbon any more, but he could do this final act for his team.

Jane was aware that in his present state, he wouldn't last long outside. He was too weak to walk far in the deep snow and the cold would kill him soon enough as he didn't have any winter clothes. The best he could hope for was to get far enough before he was missed so that he would be dead before they found him. However, he was guarded whenever he was out of his room making escape difficult. Maybe that maid would help him as she had seemed genuinely upset about his predicament?

Jane looked down at the man resting on the bed and wondered idly, who he was as he had never been given any introductions. He had just assumed that the couple were wealthy and in her grief, the soon to be widow had turned into a most unexpected source to communicate with her dear husband, although that explanation had gone out of the window by the meanness of the old lady and the presence of the guards.

Jane didn't really care, but his mind had cleared slightly of the fog of grief and he thought that he should at least know who the people responsible were for Lisbon's murder and his own downfall.

"Who is he?", Jane said into the quietness of the room startling the guard.

"You don't need to know", came the reply from the frowning guard.

"Oh, but I do. I will need to know who he is, so that I can drag his ass to Hell with me when he dies. And I need to know the name of that old woman so I can come back to haunt her until her time is up and I will be waiting for her at the gates of Hell", Jane quietly said, visibly causing shivers go down the guard's back as the deliverance of the threat was done in a such a cold, calm way that it scared the hell out of him. The guard struggled to stay quiet.

Before Jane would have figured out the name in few moments, but he wasn't in any shape to force the issue, so he let it lie. He was nudged from his thoughts by the dinner bell, which would mean that he would be escorted to his own room for the rest of the day unless there were any changes in the old man. Jane got up from the chair while the guard had opened the door and followed him out. They started the familiar trek along the long, draughty corridor, meeting one of the faceless maids going towards the old man's room to change the bed linen judged by the sheets on her arm.

XXX

The maid was getting ready for work in her room. All the staff lived in the house and were allowed to the town only under guard to stop them from mingling with the local folk, to keep the house and its occupants as private as possible.

She had been given the duty to serve the Lady for the past day stopping her from seeing Patrick. She wanted so badly to tell the man to hang in there, that she had managed to get a word out, that maybe someone would come for him soon.

Tonight she was back tending to his room and she hoped that the news would make him to cheer up so that she could get him to eat something.

When she heard the dinner bell, she was on her way to the kitchen to fetch the tray for Patrick and to wait for a guard to accompany her. She carried the tray carefully up the stairs when she could hear a scream from somewhere. The guard turned speedily, shouting questions to his ear piece, leaving the maid scared and not knowing what to do.

XXX

Jane and the guard hadn't gone very far when they heard the scream coming from the old man's bedroom. They both turned back while the guard was visibly hesitant in what to do. Apparently he got orders from his ear piece as he sternly told Jane to go back to his room and not cause trouble, and took off running where they had just come from. How they expected him to follow those orders was beyond him.

Jane stepped aside next to the wall when a stream of other guards and a doctor went running past him. He then walked away, keeping in the same corridor before finally finding himself outside the kitchen. He could see a door leading out, probably for service staff and kitchen goods. He tried the handle. It wasn't locked.

Jane opened the door closing it behind him and quietly slipped away in the midst of the mayhem in the house.

XXX

Cho burst into Lisbon's room holding a paper in his hand and talking on his mobile. Lisbon could tell that he was excited and adamant about something and impatiently motioned him to tell her what it was.

Cho flipped his mobile shut and announced, "We have a lead and it sounds like it's finally a solid one!"

Lisbon let a breath out as she had been holding it in anticipation.

"In an obscure town in the middle of nowhere, near Alaskan border, a police officer was given a note by his son, who said that a lady in a grocery store asked him to deliver it", Cho continued.

"It said: Patrick Jane is being kept in Darkwood Mansion against his will. Please, come and help him."

Lisbon felt a rush of relief in hearing the news that Jane was alive. She needed to get to him now! She had to pull her thoughts together and concentrate to listen to what else Cho had to say. She was hungrily mopping up everything, even the tiniest details.

Cho continued explaining that luckily the police officer was a smart man and up to date, so he had contacted FBI almost straight away knowing that they were looking for a man called Patrick Jane. When the FBI started looking more closely into the situation, they had found a gold mine. Apparently the house belonged to a wealthy couple that they have been looking for a long time, without knowing it.

Lisbon looked confused so Cho carried on relaying what he had learned from the FBI.

"The Mafia in the USA has always been thought to operate in loosely connected Families, each Family having their own area and their own field of speciality, be it money laundering, prostitution, guns etc. However the FBI has long speculated that the Families are too well organised and synchronised to be only loosely connected. They have suspected that there is somebody pulling the strings, a so called mastermind, but they have never had any hard evidence and all the informants have heard only vague rumours about it", Cho said.

"Makes sense, but what does that have to do with me and Jane?", Lisbon asked confused.

"It looks like the house where Jane is being held is the home of this mastermind", Cho answered.

Lisbon could only stare at him. This couldn't be happening. They had had nothing to do with the Mafia for a long time and surely they hadn't been aware of any grudges against Lisbon or Jane. She still couldn't understand what a Mafia mastermind would want with Jane or why they would want her dead. It didn't make any sense.

"The FBI has pulled together a very respectful amount of information in a very short time and they are pulling together a full tactical team to take the house. They are certain that they have finally found the Mastermind", Cho then said gathering his things.

Lisbon got out of her bed, grimacing when she felt the pain in her stomach and shoulder, but put a hand on Cho's arm.

"I'm coming too", she announced seriously, looking at Cho.

"I know. They are waiting for us", Cho answered. He had known that nothing would keep Lisbon in the hospital once he had told her what was going on. He had cleared it with the FBI and they were willing to allow her to observe with the team, but he had been told very clearly that they would not be participating in the actual operation.

Cho had taken care of the paperwork at the hospital and had even gotten a prescription filled for Lisbon so they could just walk out. Cho handed the bottle of painkillers to Lisbon when they got to his car, Rigsby and Van Pelt visible inside.

"Take them when you need it. Jane will need you to be able to go to him", Cho said quietly before they got in. Lisbon smiled at him gratefully while slowly and carefully climbing onto the car to be greeted enthusiastically by the team.

Cho drove to the nearby military airport to catch up with the plane FBI had arranged for them. When they were speedily strapped into place and took into the air, Lisbon could finally let herself hope that they would find Jane. A week had gone by with no word of him and she was going crazy with worry. She could only hope that Jane had managed to hang on, now that he knew that she loved him, that maybe he would find strength in that knowledge.

Little did she know that because of that love, Jane had been broken again.

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Thank you again for the wonderful reviews; Sophie Fatale, Habeous Corpus, klcarr892, Vermontgirl, MentalistLover and Katharen Silver.

* * *

Jane headed towards the forest, deciding randomly which way to go as the forest surrounded the whole house. He was sure that there was a road somewhere, but he didn't have time to look for it and it didn't really matter. At least there should be less snow under the thick canopy enabling him to get further away than out in the open.

The forest quickly enveloped him leaving the noises from the house behind. He didn't hear any animals, neither did he see anything. Although the snow wasn't quite as deep here, it was still difficult for him to walk as he wore his leather loafers and kept slipping constantly, not to speak of having sodden feet, which had frozen numb almost immediately.

His breath rose in white clouds while he tried to keep himself warm by wrapping his arms around his body, although considering that he was wearing his typical three piece suit and no overcoat, it was rather futile to try to get warm. However, he carried on.

Jane was trying to listen if anyone was following him, but so far there was only silence. He decided that it wouldn't be worth paying the possible pursuers any attention as there was nothing he could do about them except keep walking.

His body was numbly following his orders and slowly shuffled forwards, the speed dropping as he progressed more into the woods. He was on autopilot now, having pointed his nose where he wanted to go, his mind could concentrate on other things. This caused him to slip and nearly fall several times, but he didn't seem to notice.

He thought about Lisbon, kept seeing her in his mind, basking in her smile and sparkling eyes. He kept remembering how relaxed and carefree she had been when he last saw her, only for the memory to bring tears to his eyes as it was his fault that it had been so short lived. He cared about her so much and her death had only intensified that feeling. But what good would it do as she was gone?

Tears slipped down Jane's cheeks, only to get frozen on the eyelashes as the temperature was going down. He didn't notice it as he was blinded by his guilt and the cold was already affecting his weak body.

Jane stumbled to the tree line, where the trees gave way to snowy fields, that stretched as far as he could see, undisturbed, pristine white, sun causing everything to sparkle and glitter. Jane stood still without comprehension, the only thought in his frozen, sluggish mind being Lisbon.

XXX

The team was taken to the FBI's mobile command unit that was hidden away in the forest. They had been keeping an eye on the mansion for the whole day and had been able to gather more information to enable them to swarm the house with minimal casualties. They also had heat camera equipped helicopter standing by in case somebody managed to escape the agents.

Lisbon and the team were pointed towards a quiet corner where they could listen in during the operation. Rigsby went to find out where they could get food and something hot to drink as they were freezing regardless of the winter clothes they had borrowed from the local police force. Cho went to see the agent in charge and Van Pelt kept Lisbon company.

Lisbon could tell that the younger agent was worried about her. She gave Van Pelt a weak smile saying, "I'm OK as long as I get something to eat so I can take my painkillers".

"They will find Jane and he's going to be fine", Van Pelt answered surprising Lisbon. Apparently she had been more transparent than she thought.

"Is it really that obvious?", Lisbon asked, although at this stage she didn't care who knew about her feelings for Jane. She would have shouted it from the treetops if it helped to reunite them.

"No, only for those who know you. I'm sure the others think you just need the painkillers", Van Pelt answered. Before she could say anything else, Rigsby arrived with sandwiches and coffee. Lisbon was amused, trust the man to find food in the middle of nowhere in the midst of a FBI operation.

Cho approached the group with a serious looking, middle aged man in tow.

"This is Agent Allen, he's in charge", Cho said introducing the team.

"Thank you for allowing us in here", Lisbon said, stiffly standing up to shook the man's hand. Agent Allen made her sit down before she got very far.

"Please, sit down. I know that you were injured seriously and frankly, I'm surprised to see you up and about", the Agent said and continued, "but Agent Cho explained how your team works and how integral part Mr. Jane is. To me the way you run your team tells a lot about a person and I like your dedication Agent Lisbon", Agent Allen finished.

"If the roles were reversed, I would want to be here too", he said kindly to surprised Lisbon, who could only thank the Agent again for letting them stay.

"Do you know why they targeted Lisbon and Jane?", Cho asked to which the Agent shook his head.

"Not yet. We are hoping to learn more once we can talk to the people inside".

"My people know how Mr. Jane looks like and they will inform me as soon as they have located him", Agent Allen reassured the team before returning to his men.

Lisbon and the team were quietly listening as the different teams were checking their equipments and radios. All of the sudden, one of the men manning the computer screens spoke up, "Something is happening! I can see fast movement inside, all going into one of the rooms in the back on the ground floor". The atmosphere electrified instantly and every single person perked up and paid attention.

Agent Allen gave orders for his men to move in as they should be able to detain a large number of people in that one room. The teams moved in.

XXX

Lisbon listened anxiously the team's communications. How they broke in and took two armed guards by surprise. How they secured the rooms one by one. How they were caught in a fire fight with several armed men occupying the same room. How they discovered the body of an old man in that same room, looking like he had been in the midst of a terrible seizure when he died. How they caught an old woman trying to shoot them. Until finally the message came across the radios. There was no sign of Jane.

Lisbon became frantic. He had to be there somewhere! Had they searched the house properly, did it have a basement, an attic? The team tried to calm Lisbon down while Agent Allen looked on with sorrow in his eyes.

They were interrupted by an Agent escorting a young woman in a maid's uniform.

"She is the one who sent the note", he told Agent Allen causing Lisbon to go quiet and listen to what the girl had to say.

"I sent the note as I was so concern for Patrick", the young woman began.

"But I don't know where he is now. I didn't get the chance to tell him that someone was coming for him. He wasn't in his room when I went to look for him. I'm so worried as he hasn't been eating or sleeping since the Lady ordered his wife killed", the woman was crying now.

Lisbon was shocked. They thought that she was Jane's wife? Jane thought that she was dead?

Lisbon stepped closer to the woman, who was very upset that she couldn't help.

"Thank you for trying to help him", Lisbon said quietly before the maid was taken away by the agent.

"Can we get that helicopter in the air with the heat detection camera?", Lisbon suddenly asked Agent Allen.

"If he didn't know that we were coming, he might have tried to escape in the earlier chaos", she suggested, hoping that she was right.

"It's worth a try, but we better hurry as it's getting dark and it looks like it might start snowing. And it sounded like he might not be in a very good physical shape", the Agent responded turning towards one of his men, who gave the orders for the pilot on stand by.

"If the pilot finds anything, I will let you know immediately. In the mean time I have this operation to wrap up", the Agent said, not unkindly.

Lisbon could only sit down again to wait. She was getting a bad feeling about this, which was making her very anxious and she found it difficult to keep still, which in turn aggravated her injuries so that she was aching all over regardless of the painkillers she took earlier.

XXX

It had been an hour and no sign of Jane yet . Lisbon was terrified. It was cold outside, it was night and it had been snowing for a while. Where could he be?

"We found a heat signature!", came all of the sudden a voice over the radio and Lisbon found her heart was beating so fast that it was threatening to jump out of her chest. The next words crushed her.

"The signature is barely detectable. We need the medics here now!", shouted the pilot. Lisbon looked at the team in horror only to find the feeling being mirrored on their faces.

"I need to get there. Please, I need to get there now", Lisbon begged Agent Allen forgetting all about dignity and to her relief, the agent escorted her and the team with the medics to the location that had been given by the helicopter.

When they got to the end of the trees, they could only see snowy fields, no sign of Jane. Until the pilot urged them on, "He's in front of you! He must be buried under the snow!"

The agents started frantically digging and removing the snow from bumps trying to find where Jane was and with the pilots directions, they finally managed to uncover him, lying prone on the ground under a thick layer of snow.

Lisbon was next to him quicker than the medics could move. She sat down next to him, stroking his cheek, which was ever so cold. He was so pale and his lips blue and he was still. Lisbon couldn't contain it any more and her tears spilled over and she was sobbing over Jane, when the medics started working on him.

When she heard the words, "There is no pulse", she started begging and crying.

"Please Jane! You can't leave me. No, no, no, You can't leave. You must come back to me. Please Jane! Please!".

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thank you for following this story and for all the reviews you have written! Once again "Song for Viola" by Peter Bradley Adams fits perfectly with the latter part of this chapter.

This is the final chapter and I do apologise...

* * *

Lisbon was lying down on the uncomfortable hospital chairs, hugging a blanket to keep warm. Jane had been brought in to the hospital an hour ago and the doctors were trying to bring his body temperature up slowly to be able to resuscitate him properly.

The doctors had told the team that there was hope as freezing temperatures would have reduced the oxygen requirements and lessened the chance of brain damage. If they could bring his temperature up without causing a system wide shock once the chilled blood started circulating again, they were carefully optimistic about Jane's chances.

Lisbon held on to that hope. She was cold, tired, emotionally drained and physically hurting like hell. The nurses had very quickly gotten her story out of Rigsby and had fussed around Lisbon, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. Her painkillers hadn't kicked in properly though.

The nurses had offered stronger painkillers, even morphine, but Lisbon had declined as she wanted to be clear headed when the doctors updated them and above all, she needed to be awake and fully aware once they let her see Jane.

Cho had been on his mobile again getting the update from Agent Allen and approached the rest of the team.

"We know now why Jane and the boss were targeted", Cho said to Rigsby and Van Pelt mistaking Lisbon to be sleeping. She emerged from under the blanket though and urged Cho on.

"The old couple was indeed the Mafia mastermind, pulling all the strings together and coordinating all the activities. The old man suffered a stroke all of the sudden few weeks back leaving him unable to communicate. As his wife didn't know all the details and he hadn't documented them all, she was desperate to extract the information somehow from his mind. Now that the FBI knows what to look for, they can see the signs of increasing instability within and between the different Families", Cho explained.

"Jane's reputation had caught the wife's attention earlier and as a last resort attempt, she decided to kidnap him, forcing him to cooperate by killing Lisbon and giving him enough information about his whereabouts in the middle of nowhere and Lisbon's fate that he wouldn't try to escape. Apparently they also threatened to kill us all if Jane didn't cooperate", Cho said grimly.

Lisbon shuddered. She couldn't even begin to imagine what had gone through Jane's head as he had apparently believed all they had said. They must have had good evidence to persuade him.

"The maid who helped Jane, is being transferred into a witness protection program. Although she doesn't really know anything what was going on in the house, she could recognise some important people and of course it was due to her note that the FBI knew about the house and its occupants in the first place", Cho continued.

"That's good", Lisbon said tiredly being grateful to the young woman. Without her Jane would still be lost and now would definitely be buried under the snow. She wouldn't have ever learned about his fate and would have been forever in that desperate limbo of not knowing.

They all fell silent again in the waiting room. They were all tired and very worried about Jane. Cho was also very worried about Lisbon and he promised to himself that he would look after her. He was feeling so angry and helpless. How was it possible that only one desperate and misguided person was all it took to tear apart the lives of so many people?

A doctor slipped in tiredly from the door facing the team. Even Lisbon sat up struggling, being helped by Van Pelt. The doctor started talking...

XXX

_One week later_

"...so that is the whole story in detail and here we are", Lisbon trailed off. She was sitting down leaning slightly forward. She was playing with a plain, golden wedding band that twinkled in the setting sun, turning it around and around in her hands.

"They gave it to me assuming that I was your wife. I suppose I made a bit of a scene", Lisbon chuckled, but became sad and serious again as she didn't get the flippant reply she had gotten accustomed to.

"I promise, I will take good care of it", she whispered.

She closed her eyes remembering Jane's genuine, happy smile. She concentrated on remembering all the emotions she had seen in his eyes when she told him that she loved him. She felt slightly comforted by the fact that he had known, it made her feel better.

Lisbon sat on the stone bench as the dusk fell watching the golden glow of the setting sun softening the edges of the world, creating a calm, warm oasis of stillness. She looked up when the first white, soft petals began falling as a gentle wind stirred the flowering tree above her.

She got up in the soft rain of whiteness, the petals swirling around her in the breeze. She got down on her knees, resting her forehead against the grey headstone letting her fingers trail the carved letters, her tears mingling freely with the falling petals.

She got up, palm against the sun-warmed stone and whispered, "Sleep well, Jane".

**The end**


End file.
